Monday, October 12, 2015

State of mind

Set in India in the 90s, The Normal State of Mind tracks the
lives of two women as they navigate societal norms, and defy them, to become inseparable
friends and fulfilled individuals. First we join Dipali on her wedding night in
Mumbai. She has married a man her family found in an ad., but beyond this
convention their relationship is far from traditional. Next, we join Moushumi,
about to embark on her first love affair in Calcutta. Against the odds,
Dipali’s marriage is a success, for a time. Moushumi’s love is a little more
complicated by India’s standards and soon tragedy sets these two women on a
collision course. Indian society of the 90s might not consider either woman to
be of a “Normal State of Mind”, but Susmita Bhattacharya’s debut novel evokes
wonderfully a Mumbai as rich with potential and positive change as it is with
sensual stimuli, and shows the power of friendship to enable women to overcome
societal barriers to succeed on their own terms. Written with wit, warmth and
wisdom; Bhattacharya draws a portrait of Mumbai that feels at once intimate and
international - a state we can all relate to.